Kim Ki Duk and many more...back to Fantasporto

It happens every year. In February, the month of St Valentine and Carnival, the second most important city in Portugal receives thousands of film enthusiasts for another edition of Fantasporto. A fortnight of the best cinema in the world. And, as usual, new discoveries and new creators together with old talents and retrospectives. The 27th edition of the biggest film festival in Portugal is supported by the Ministry of Culture, through the ICAM, the Portuguese Film Institute, as well as the Oporto Town Hall. The festival will take place between the 19th February and the 4th March 2007 at the Rivoli Teatro Municipal.

OLD AND NEW TALENTS TOGETHER IN FANTASPORTO 2007
FANTASY CINEMA OFFICIAL SECTION

The new and the old talents join together in 2007. Directors such as Christophe Gans and Satoshi Kon share the Official Section of Fantasy Films with young promises as Simon Rumley or Jens Lien. One of the scriptwriters of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Canadian Roger Avary, has joined Christophe Gans (Crying Freeman and Le Pacte des Loups) adapting to film a popular video game, Silent Hill, a landmark of these kind of games thanks to its dark atmosphere and creepy scenes. To dreamland comes Japanese director Satoshi Kon, better known for his Perfect Blue (1997), together with Mad House, the production house of The Animatrix (2003). The film adapts to Animé (Japanese style animation) a sci-fi novel by Yasutaka Tsuitui,a master of the genre. The new film is called Paprika.
From Norway comes one of the most expected films of the Festival, The Bothersome Man by Jens Lien, awarded in the Critics Week of the latest Cannes Film Festival. The film tells a story of a misfit in a Big Brother-type of society that denies difference and originality, Also in focus, The Living and the Dead, directed by Simon Rumley, integrates this section, an example of the horror that is so realistic it could happen to any of us.



THE BEST OF THE WORLD¹S CINEMA IN FANTASPORTO 2007
17th DIRECTORS WEEK

When daily life and the world problems are the main theme, Fantasporto joins these films in the Directors Week. And the coming edition is no exception. From eastern countries come films like like Chen Kaige¹s The Promise or Ho Cheung Pang with the awarded Isabella; from Europe new approaches to dark comedy such as the Portuguese feature Suicídio Encomendado, by Artur Serra Araújo, or 12:08: East of Bucharest by the Roumanian director Corneliu Porumboiu; from North America with the remarkable documentary on the architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Sketches of Frank Gehry , produced with Sidney Pollack. New suggestions and new ways to look at today¹s society.

KIM KI-DUK AND SATOSHI KON DE ARE BACK TO FANTASPORTO
ORIENT EXPRESS OFFICIAL SECTION

A pioneer in the introduction of Asian Films in Europe, Fantasporto opens its doors to the most dynamic cinema of today. From The Host, a box-office hit, Time by Kim Ki-duk and Paprika de Satoshi Kon, oriental cinema is once again present. The Host was in the sellection of the Quinzaine des Realizateurs at Cannes and is one of the best films of the year coming from South Korea. ³A terror film like no other² said Variety. In fact, horror goes hand in hand with humour when a monster invades the streets of Seoul.

EUROPEAN CINEMA SHINES BRIGHT IN FANTASPORTO
11th SILVER MÉLIÈS

Celebrating the best of European Fantasy Films, the Méliès D¹Or Award is chosen among the winners of the Mélies D¹Argent of the festivals that integrate the Federation of Fantasy Film Festivals, which was founded in 1996. The 11th edition of the Méliès d¹Argent in Fantasporto has a high quality sellection integrating features such as Taxidermia by Gyorgy Pálfi, from Hungary, The Horror Bus by Dutch director Pieter Kuipjers or British Severance by Christopher Smith, examples of the vitaly of European Fantasy. This competion also integrates short films. The coming ceremony of the Méliès D¹or will take place in Lund, Sweden, next September 2007.


GUILLERMO DEL TORO AND DARREN ARONOFSKY
IN THE OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES OF FANTASPORTO

Two of the cult directors of Fantasporto are back with honours. Opening the festival is El Laberinto del Fauno, the last adventure of former winner Guillermo Del Toro. Alice in Wonderland meets Spanish post-civil war depression on the opening Friday of the festival, 23rd February,at the Grande Auditório of the Rivoli ­ Teatro Municipal. The Closing Night belongs to The Fountain by Darren Aronofksy. His most personal film to date, as the director himself avows, and a love story that crosses centuries, was the opening film at the Venice Film festival in 2006. The film has oscarwinner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardner) and Hugh Jackman (X-Men) in the leading roles. The closing night is on the 3rd March at the Grande Auditório of the Rivoli ­ Teatro Municipal.


PORTUGUESE CINEMA IN FANTASPORTO 2007
ARTUR SERRA ARAÚJO, MANUEL MOZOS AND RODRIGO AREIAS PRESENT NEW FILMS

As always, Portuguese cinema has a comfortable place in Fantasporto. The dark comedy Suícidio Encomendado, by Artur Serra Araújo, produced by Francisco Bravo Ferreira, gives a new breath to Portuguese cinema as the opening feature of the Directors Week, following the success of Coisa Ruim last year.
Also present among others the cinema of Manuel Mozos with the documentary Olhar o Cinema Português about the history of film in Portugal and our celebrated filmmakers like Manoel de Oliveira or João César Monteiro, the producers like Tino Navarro or paulo branco. Another premier comes with Tebas, directed by Rodrigo Areias, and the musical participation of The Legendary Tiger Man. A selection of the latest Portuguese productions will also be presented in this Panorama do Cinema Português.

RUSSIAN CINEMA RETROSPECTIVE ­ THE MOSFILM EMPIRE

The retrospective dedicatred to Russian Cinema and Mosfilm is one of the most important moments of the next festival. With over 60 years of existence, the production company and studios Mosfilm are a faithful mirror of soviet and russian cinema through the 20th century till now. Born during the bolshevic revolution, it fought the nazi invasion, witnessed the cold war, the decline of the USSR and the ascension of the Russian Federation. With over 900 feature films and its massive archive, Mosfilm is bringing to Fantasporto, thanks to the endeavour of director Karen Shakhnazarov, a group of films which are representative of different times and genres, but all true masterpieces. From the classsics of fantasy like Viy to the sumptuous Sadko, a Russian tale of the 1001 nights, the rebel cinema of Andrei Tarkowsky, the director of the former regime Klimov, or to the modern cinema of today with Karen Shakhnazarov, this is a retrospective not to be missed.


AN HOMAGE TO A REMARKABLE PRODUCER- MARIN KARMITZ

The homage to French producer and director Marin Karmitz is a highlight in the coming edition of Fantasporto. Organized under the high patronage of the French Ministry of Culture, the French Consulate in Oporto and the guidance of the producer¹s personal friend, the critic Jean Loup Passek, the retrospective closes in the presence of Karmitz himself who will receive with the Fantasporto Career Award. With a creer sapnning over 40 years, Karmitz work goes from the nouvelle vague of Jean Luc Godard, to the miulitant cinema of May 1968, to multiple trans european productions. He was also behind Code Unconu by Michael Hanneke, La Femme est L¹Avenir de L¹Homme by Sang-Soo Hong, Trois Couleurs: Rouge e Trois Couleurs: Bleu by Krysztof Kieslowski as well as Je Veux Rentrer à la Maison by Alain Resnais, just to name a few.

SUPER -HEROES IN FANTASPORTO 2007
FROM COMICS TO THE SCREEN

All super heroes will join Fantasporto 2007. The première of Ghost Rider, the most recent adaptation of the Marvel universe with actors Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes is the pretext to join a group of wondrous heroes, ladies in distress and multiple dangers..

KIM KI-DUK VERSUS SHYNIA TSUKAMOTO
A DUEL OF GIANTS

Fantasporto introduced Asian Cinema and its sensational new directors. One of theses first presented in Europein Fantasporto were South Korean Kim Ki Duk and Japanesee Shynia Tsukamoto, both born in 1960, but quite different in style. Next February they will try to win the favours of the audience.